


written on my heart and soul

by peachjuho



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27753505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachjuho/pseuds/peachjuho
Summary: Jeno and Renjun are soulmates, tied together by the universe. That's a fact. So it makes sense then, that Renjun should be the only one he wants. (But he's not.)
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates





	written on my heart and soul

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing for a little wonder.. thank you mods for hosting!!
> 
> norenmin nation i'm sorry this isn't the fic u deserve but i hope you still enjoy it T_T

Jeno is nineteen and has known who his soulmate is for the last sixteen years.

That’s a lot of time for someone as young as he is.

It’s unusual, of course, but not unheard of. His parents met each other when they were twenty-two, the average age one meets their soulmate. Renjun’s parents have never talked about what age they were when they met, but he knows it was a little later.

Either way, it means that Renjun has been in his life much longer than he’s been absent from it, and Jeno’s not sure he can even remember his life pre-Renjun.

He’s pretty sure he wouldn’t want to anyway.

“Missed me?”

A smile spreads across Jeno’s lips. He doesn’t have to see who it is, the voice is already a dead giveaway. Nevertheless, he twists his upper body around because he can and feasts his eyes on the R written upon his soul.

“Renjun,” he breathes out.

“Jeno,” his soulmate mirrors, a teasing smirk written on his face.

The other looks handsome as always, even in something as simple as a hoodie and jeans. Is it possible he’s gotten even more good-looking?

Then Jeno turns his attention back to his laptop, feigning indifference. “Of course not, you were only gone for like, a week.”

Quiet.

Then the presence of his soulmate at his back. Warm, comforting.

“Let’s do something,” Renjun suggests, letting his hands wander downwards from broad shoulders and snaking around Jeno’s neck.

His soulmate’s hands link together, ultimately coming to rest on his chest. Meanwhile, he stares at the little letter inked on the inside of Renjun’s wrist. 

It’s almost a perfect mirror of his own, so long as one can ignore the fact that an R looks nothing like a J.

After all this time, he’s still captivated by the way their souls are linked.

“Like what?” Jeno murmurs, leaning his head backwards to look up at Renjun’s face.

Jeno is forced to switch out of the sweatpants he’s been wearing for the majority of three days, into something presentable. (“Honestly!” Renjun exclaims upon his discovery, smacking him lightly on the arm. He pretends to wince and exaggerates his look of regret.)

The sky doesn’t look bright today. It’s already sprinkling when they step outside, and the grey clouds only continue to gather, promising to ruin someone’s day later.

It won’t be Jeno’s though, his day’s already been made with Renjun’s return, and his smile only grows as Renjun forces him to go back inside to get an umbrella, and then makes him carry it.

“It’s your house.”

“I know.”

“And you’re taller anyway.”

“Of course.”

Jeno takes his umbrella-holding duties seriously, angling it to protect the shorter male from the rain as much as possible. Renjun claims his other hand in the meanwhile, lacing their fingers together and leading him to their destination.

At some point during their walk, the sprinkling turns into steady droplets thudding heavily on the pavement.

Renjun points to a coffee shop with a tan awning overhead and pretty flowers out the front windows. “It’s just there.”

They quicken their step. Renjun wanting out of the rain, and Jeno trying to keep up with his pace, but it’s hard to do so and keep both under the umbrella at the same time.

They reach cover with a minimal touch of rain on them. Jeno quickly closes the umbrella to briefly fuss over Renjun to make sure he’s dry anyway.

If he seizes the opportunity to steal a kiss from the corner of his mouth, well, no one can’t blame him for that.

Renjun’s lip quirks up.

“We’re here.”

“So we are.”

The cafe is warmer than Jeno anticipated it to be, but it’s not unwelcome.

Funny though, that as soon as they step in, the skies part and there’s a downpour.

Jeno’s gaze is focused on the window, marvelling at the individual raindrops finding their place. He’s so absorbed in picking which droplet will win the race that he belatedly realises Renjun is no longer standing beside him.

Turning, he sets his eyes on someone so enchanting, it takes his breath away.

This story is written wrong, he knows.

It should be his soulmate he’s referring to. Not the employee behind the counter, manning the cashier.

Yet Jeno can’t seem to tear his gaze away.

Renjun beckons him over, and there’s a sinking feeling in his stomach with each step he takes toward them.

It’s not like it means anything, he thinks, but it doesn’t do much to reassure him.

The stranger is even more attractive up close. His face seems to radiate light itself, from the way he shows off his teeth with his smile, to the way his eyes crinkle at the corners. It’s magnetic, and everyone’s eyes keep coming back to him.

Jeno’s breath hitches.

Renjun grabs his hand.

He’s shocked back to his senses.

A risky glance at the stranger’s name tag-

_Jaemin._

So that’s his name.

It resonates in the depths of his heart, and somehow Jeno knows there’s meant to be something more.

But it doesn’t make sense, because Renjun should be all that he needs.

Jeno goes back, just once.

The grey clouds move so slowly they look like they’re simply suspended in the air, watching and waiting for what’s next to come.

Without Renjun, it feels strange entering the cafe, almost like he’s hiding something from his soulmate.

“Oh, it’s Jeno, right?”

There’s no way he can hide his surprise at the greeting. Jaemin _remembers_ his name. The other offers him a friendly smile, leaning on the counter with his elbows.

Jaemin states, “You’re Renjun’s soulmate.”

There’s something about the way it’s said that makes it sound like an unfinished sentence.

“Yeah.” Jeno nods a little weakly. “That’s me.”

“What can I get for you?”

“Just a green tea latte, please.”

“Coming right up! Feel free to take a seat.”

He sits on one of the comfier chairs by the window, relaxing into it and he observes the cafe go about its business.

Jaemin isn’t the only one working. There’s another two behind the counter, and the three of them work in sync to prepare each customer’s food and drink.

But if anyone were to ask Jeno what the other two look like, he’s not sure he can answer. His gaze is concentrated on Jaemin, the way he blinds each person entering the shop with a sparkling grin and takes an interest in each of them.

Of course, there’s a possibility it’s all a customer service mask, but Jeno’s never seen one that looks so genuine.

Jaemin brings his drink to the table and asks if he can sit down, citing that he has a short break.

In fifteen minutes Jeno learns more and not enough about the boy across him. There should be at least _some_ things about Jaemin that surprise him but there isn’t. Everything he finds out makes so much sense like a logical conclusion, and there’s that tug in his heart again.

It feels familiar and terrifying all at the same time.

“Thanks, Jeno. It was nice talking to you!”

He resolves to forget about Jaemin.

Except it’s hard.

Much harder than he thinks it should be, and it seems less like a foolish infatuation and something that’s turned into a legitimate crush.

“What’s bothering you?”

Renjun and Jeno lay in bed together, limbs intertwined like they’ve been moulded to fit perfectly in the nooks and crannies of each other’s bodies.

Jeno wonders how to broach the subject. Although he hasn’t returned to the cafe in the last few weeks, Renjun has, and he almost always mentions Jaemin asks after Jeno. There’s nothing more to it, but it weighs on his chest.

“You noticed?”

“You get that constipated look on your face.”

“...”

“So yes, of course. I noticed. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’ve been feeling like something’s wrong with me.”

Jeno looks up the ceiling, hesitant to face his soulmate.

“You don’t need to rush,” Renjun whispers, threading his fingers through Jeno’s hair, “Take your time. I know you’re always patient with me. I can be patient too.”

“It’s our soulmate connection.”

He hastens to add, “It’s not that there’s anything wrong with you, or that I’m not satisfied with our relationship, it’s just… I don’t know how to put this any other way.”

Jeno sighs. “I think I have a crush on Jaemin.” 

The words hang in the air, strained with anticipation and Jeno is so very scared that he might lose the person who matters the most to him.

“I’m sor-”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Renjun sits up, and tugs at Jeno’s shirt, pulling him up as well. “Yeah. It’s okay.”

“How is it okay? You’re my soulmate, we have each other’s initials on our wrist. You’re supposed to be the only one for me.”

His soulmate smiles, bringing a hand up to his cheek.

“Just because you like Jaemin doesn’t mean you love me any less, right?”

“No.”

“You know some people have more than one soulmate.”

“Yeah, but usually in those cases they all have each other’s mark.”

Renjun takes his marked hand, and thumbs over the R.

“But it means some people can love more than one person.”

“I guess…”

“So it’s fine. But what do you want now? Do you want to pursue something with him?”

Jeno ponders the question. What does he want? He wants to know more about why Jaemin tugs at his heart and why he seems so familiar in a way like re-reading an old book.

“Would you be okay with that?”

“I’ll support you.”

“I love you.”

“I know. You’ve only met him once though, haven’t you?”

“Twice, actually. But I feel like I’ve known him longer than that. Is that weird?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Jeno returns to the cafe.

The day he goes back, the sky offers no possibilities of rain or grey clouds in sight. Just the afternoon sun against a canvas of endless blue, a small blessing.

The same bright smile welcomes him back, asking if he’ll have the same as last time. Jeno doesn’t ask how he remembers.

It doesn’t really play out the same way as his last visit.

There are some parallels, like the way he goes to sit on one of the comfier chairs by the window, relaxing into it as he observes the cafe. Or the way his gaze keeps going back to Jaemin like a magnet.

But no, this time, Jaemin is still busy, and it’s his coworker, Jimin, who brings Jeno his drink. There’s no break for them to sit and chat like last time.

Jeno stays there until his green tea latte is long gone.

“Planning to sleep here, Jeno?” Jaemin teases, leaning slightly on the mop he’s holding in his hands.

Jeno doesn’t miss a beat. “Only if you are.”

There’s a minor look of surprise on Jaemin’s face, but a small smile appears to decorate his lips.

Later on, Jeno stands outside waiting for him to finish closing up. He’s patient as Jaemin steps outside, turning around to lock the door.

It’s best he says it now before he loses his nerve.

When he asks Jaemin for a date, he doesn’t even stumble over his words. 

That night, after Jeno closes his eyes, he sees himself in a mirror.

It’s a strange dream to have. There’s nothing obviously different about him. His wrist is missing the mark that ties him to Renjun, but it doesn’t feel like it’s wrong.

Something urges him to look at his other hand, in between his fingers.

There, on the fourth finger of his left hand, just one word.

 _Na_.

Jeno wakes up sometime after that.

The first thing he does is check his wrist.

Relief.

The R is still there, a filled-in promise of his other half.

Tentatively, he lifts up his other hand up to his face for inspection. That spot, where there was something, now holds nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> this was been a lot harder than i thought it would be (lol rip) but i did have fun (also me: constantly screaming about how painful writing this was), so i hope i have the opportunity to join in later rounds!!
> 
> i had a few particular concepts in mind without stating them directly so i hope they came across well!!
> 
> thank you for reading, kudos and comments are well-loved and appreciated in this household.


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